A Star in the Night - Blurbs
by SweetMotherHaveMercy
Summary: Excerpts from further along in my full-length fic, just as ideas and teasers while I try to pick up the pace of my writing. These may or may not make the final cut so enjoy! Additional ideas or headcanons welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**5th Year Baiting**

"So who's your boyfriend this week, Nyx?" Sirius grinned devilishly at her, his usual mischief glinting behind his grey eyes. Theia deadpanned at him, then dropped her face into an expression of mock-shock. Lily and Harper did their best to bite back the grins that were already starting to peak through; Black and Nyx antics were always an amusing way to spend the few minutes between class.

"Shit... wait, do you mean to tell me it isn't you?" One of her hands ran through her hair as her face changed into an exaggerated look of concentration and she gripped her chin with her thumb and forefinger. "Well hold on a second then..." Sirius' heart thudded against his ribs for a few beats before he shook himself of the perplexing reaction and continued to watch the show she was clearly putting on.

"Hey Owens!" Theia waved at the sandy blonde-haired boy, who lifted his head up from the conversation he had been having with his friends a little ways down the hall, "Be my boyfriend?"

Connor's face matched his scarlet robes for the half a second it took him to respond to the ambushed question, "Yea, 'course." He sent a lopsided smile at her, and Theia blushed prettily at her own antics and his relieving answer.

"Now see that Evans, that's how you say yes to a date!" James almost couldn't help himself, _if Padfoot and Nyx weren't going to sort their shit out, him and Lily certainly didn't have to follow their lead._ If only Lily would realize that.

"I am not saying yes to anything Potter." Lily's posture stiffened into the stubborn stance she was much too familiar with in his presence.

"Well you're not, not saying yes." Theia murmured under her breath at Harper who let out a loud guffaw and brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle it from becoming genuine open laughter.

"I am NOT saying yes!" Lily whirled her head around at her teasing friends, her dark red locks fanning out behind her. James felt his heart give a swift kick to the back of his sternum as his favorite little spitfire unleashed her temper on a different target; it was one of his favorite things to watch. Sirius couldn't decide which was making him smirk harder, the blush on his best mate's face or the particular sparkle Theia's eyes took on when she was being intentionally devious.

"Yes Lily, we heard you." Harper conditioned her face into a mask.

"You're not, _not_ saying yes." Theia finished Harper's train of thought for her, slipping in the second 'not' so quickly and faintly that if you weren't paying rapt attention, you'd have missed it. She was almost mirroring her mask-like expression, with the exception of the glint of excitement she could feel peaking through her eyes from inciting Lily's legendary temper in front of James.

"NO! I am _not_ saying yes!" Lily's voice jumped up an octave in exasperation. She knew she was rising to the bait Theia was dangling, but the thought of anything but complete loathing for _Potter_ was just too much not to react strongly to.

"Yes, Lils we aren't deaf. You said you're not, not saying yes to James." Theia raised her hands in surrender and giggled when Lily twitched menacingly towards her wand at the mention of James' first name. Unfortunately, the boy in question chose that particular moment to release a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding while watching the scene unfold. At the sound of his continued existence, Lily twirled back around towards the boys posted up against the wall, looking like a red angel of wrath.

"Piss. Off. POTTER!" Lily half screeched at the frozen teens, turned back and began to walk determinedly in the direction of her next class, wherever that was, she couldn't quite remember through the rage addling her brain. Harper and Theia followed just behind her, giggling at their own terribleness, but they didn't want poor Lily to walk herself into any abandoned wings of the castle on accident in her fit of frustration.

"Can I walk you to class?" Connor stepped out from his group of friends as the girls passed.

"Yea, 'course." Theia mimicked back at him and glided over to where he stood with his arm held out for her to take. When she took his arm she gave him her best winning smile, then peaked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow back at Sirius, him having been the original antagonist of the entire exchange.

Sirius watched Connor mutter something under his breath into Theia's ear and heard her emit a throaty chuckle at whatever it was as she pulled her gaze from him and turned it back onto her newly acquired boyfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Flustered**

She found herself fidgeting with her bracelet when it tingled against her wrist. She flipped the clasp and peaked at the inside rim.

 _SOS. Treehouse. NOW._

"Right on cue!" She re-clasped the bracelet and tipped the remainder of the frothy liquid down her throat. With a smirk and a wink at Pete, she hit the empty cup down on the table, "Two more for the road, Rem?"

"Haha, think she'll need it do you?"

"Oh if I was a betting man, I'd give these drinks a very short life-expectancy." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the prospect of the doubtless panic attack she was about to walk into.

Remus chuckled in his throat while he poured two generous glasses and slid them back to Theia. "Been long enough coming. Tell her not to overthink it from me?"

"Way ahead of you Moons," She lifted the drinks to leave and beamed at Remus and Peter who were sharing a gloating look, "Thanks!"

Slinking and ducking between the bodies, Theia finally made it over to the wall in question. Holding one of the cups between her teeth, she scratched the chip in the stone just at eye level and the foot-holes melted into existence. With a small flick of her wand she sent the two drinks floating up beside her as she climbed up, sparing a quick glance behind her to check that no one was in any position to be able to see up her skirt. Twenty steps up, a very anxious-looking Lily fidgeted with the ends of her hair, jumping when the top of Theia's head came into to view.

"I kissed him! He kisse- Potter! He kissed me!" Lily blurted as if she would have burst into the flames she resembled had she held it in half a second longer.

"I may or may not have noticed..." A smirk grew on Theia's face as she climbed over the edge into the nook. "Now breathe. I brought drinks" She turned, grabbed both cups and was halfway back around when Lily's hand darted out and grabbed a cup to bring immediately to her lips in near desperation.

Lily took a three gulps, a breath, two more gulps, and then tilted her head back down to meet Theia's quirked eyebrow and smile. "Oh gods, what is happening to me!"

Theia dropped the teasing brow, and took on a serious look, "Did you like it?" She couldn't quite suppress the grin, but she hid it behind her cup as she took a sip.

"Di-did I like it?" Lily blustered, turned a bright shade of pink, and darted her green eyes back up to Theia. "Yes... I wanted him to." Theia let the grin behind her cup peak out to reassure her very flustered friend.

"We had to hold him back so you could finish the song. And that thrice damned Diggory almost blew the whole thing." Theia scowled, _Arrogant fucking prick._

Lily's eyes danced and the corner of her mouth lifted into the ghost of a smirk "I thought I felt a hex fly off to my left."

"Rat bastard deserved what he got." Theia huffed and took another swill from her rapidly depleting drink.

"Hey, I resent that!" A mop of blonde hair peaked over the ledge and Pete clumsily climbed into the nook with the two girls.

"Oh no Peter, she wasn't talking about you!" Lily's eyes widened a bit as she realized how close Peter had come to overhearing her confession. The double meaning of his statement clearly sailed right over her head, but Theia shook a few loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes and pulled her eyebrows in together in an apologetic look for Peter while Lily was very distracted with draining the last of her glass.

Peter just laughed and sent her his classic half-smile, "Looks like I'm just in time, refills?"

"Galant Gryffindor, bless you!" Theia held her cup out so Peter could replenish her, and he motioned to Lily who held out hers as well and smiled her thanks at him a little brighter than she might normally do.

"Didn't mean to interrupt the girl talk, just wanted to check up on everyone." Peter sent a less than subtle look at Lily who immediately flushed again.

"We're just peachy Pete, thank you!" Theia piped up, mostly to divert his gaze that was likely to result in Lily's spontaneous combustion any second now. A knowing sparkle flashed in Theia's eyes and she stole a quick glance at Lily, "How're the gentlemen holding up down there?"

Lily perked up and shifted her weight from her hip to sit upright to face Peter full on, waiting for his answer. Realizing this may not have come off as casual as she would have liked, she tried bringing the drink slowly up to her face, but had to glance down at it when she nearly missed her lips.

"Oh y'know... classic Gryffindor party. Drinking, tales of our glory, mischief... girls. Th' usual stuff." Peter was poorly concealing a loaded grin.

"Girls?" Theia put an innocent-sounding tone to her voice, brought a hand to her chest in mock disbelief, and continued to tease, "Why Mr. Pettigrew, we are simply scandalized!" That effectively broke the mounting tension emanating off of Lily when she sputtered her drink and giggled, she brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Peter laughed right along with both of them and shook his head lightly.

"So do you hate him a little less now?" Theia almost balked at the directness of Peter's question, but he was in Gryffindor after all, he was bound to have a bold tendency or two.

Color rose to Lily's cheeks lightly, but she returned his boldness by holding his gaze for her reply, "Yea, you could say that." Peter beamed back and let the matter drop, having accomplished the goal

"C'mon, I only brought enough for one refill, and Nyxie looks about ready to wiggle to her own dance party up here." Theia looked up and realized she had been dancing in place while watching the movement down below. Unabashed, she smiled and winked again.

"What's wrong Petey, not in the mood for a private show?"

Peter's reply was half a scoff and half a squeak, so instead of verbalizing anything further, he turned to descend back down the wall to the party. Theia shrugged, tossed a furtive look at Lily, "Ready?"

 **To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Continued...**

"Yea, come on, I wouldn't want anyone thinking I couldn't handle myself." She motioned for Theia to go down back the wall first, and quickly vanished their empty glasses before following her down. At the bottom, she linked her arm in Theia's and the girls made their way back through the crowd. Lily sporadically whispered recent Gryffindor gossip about a few people they passed. They finally settled in a gap far enough away from the music that they didn't have to shout to hear each other, but close enough that they didn't feel awkward dancing to the thudding sounds.

Theia turned her brain off and just let the drinks she'd had carry her body through the rhythm, finding that her hips liked the bass line of the songs that were playing. Her and Lily twirled each other around, and scanned the room every now and again to see who was passing through. Theia smirked when she saw Lily's eyes repeatedly darting towards the corner she had occupied earlier with a certain Gryffindor chaser.

When Lily started chewing her lip and unknowingly drew a few heated looks from a couple of stray guys around them, Theia decided they should move before someone provoked one of the more volatile Marauders into re-establishing his claim.

"Lils! My drinks are wearing off, want to go see if we can't stir up the girls into finding something stronger?" Theia looped her arm through Lily's and sent off an air of unapproachableness into the ether surrounding her, hoping to ward off the creep to their left who had just done a head-to-toe on the pair and was licking his lips. She was growling inside her head at that skeeze when the space to her right became suddenly very warm and a hand found itself on her back just below her shoulder blades.

"I think I can cut out the middleman for you." Sirius' voice was low in her ear, and Theia followed his gaze to the aforementioned creep who was now pointedly looking into his cup to avoid the intensity of the Black Heir's scowl. She suppressed a chuckle and released the tension she had been holding around Lily and herself and smiled down at the flask filled with a dark amber liquid that Sirius was holding out to show her. _How did he get this close when I had that air out around us... He touched me..._ With that, Theia became intensely aware of the warmth Sirius' hand was emanating through her back. She felt it relax a bit when she released the tension-filled shield, but he hadn't moved it yet.

"What, no suit of armor today, Black? Seems almost like a let down when you're going to come swooping in, saving the day like that." Theia tilted her head back and gave Sirius a coy smile. Sirius' scowl melted into his favorite smirk and he gave her an obvious wink.

"S'at the cleaners, love."


	4. Chapter 4

**Battered and Fluffy**

The thought of catching her hadn't even crossed his mind when she vaulted herself into his arms and he reacted instinctively to hold her up off the ground pressed against him. He could feel this little girl-shaped furnace radiate her heat through his chest into his iced-over core. She didn't fuss, or coo soothing words into his ear, or curse his family for their folly, cruelty, or loss. She just held on, enveloping him in steady security. He buried his face into her shoulder and squeezed his arms around her waist slightly.

They could have been there for an hour for all either of them knew before Sirius let out a breath slowly against the skin at the crook of her neck and tilted forward to let her slide down him to the floor. Her eyes weren't heartbroken for him when he let go of her and looked down. She looked at him intently and he felt himself solidify slightly, standing there beneath her gaze. She gave him a bright smile and said nothing, Sirius was just happy at least one person wasn't going to treat him like a broken little china doll. He'd never felt so vulnerable in his entire life and he hated being reminded of it. Her presence was always so steadying, and for that he was eternally grateful. _Probably an ether thing she doesn't realize she's doing._

Theia turned to James, "Are the house elves particularly busy today, do you know?" James scoffed and chuckled at the same time.

"I haven't yet asked them of their schedule today, Ethee."

"Did you bring treats?" Sirius' eyes were shining with a familiar note of mischief.

"I forgot the doggy biscuits at home today unfortunately. But I did bring one in the form of an old family recipe I recently tweaked, if that counts."

"Brilliant. Bibsy!"

Theia took out a folded piece of paper and knelt down in front of the expectant house elf that cracked into the room, gave him a timid smile and a quiet 'please and thank you,' when she handed him the recipe. The house elf glanced over the sheet and squeaked in delight, clutching it to his chest and cracking back out of the room after a quick "Of course, Miss Nyxie!" Sirius realized he was smirking when she stood back up, smoothing out the caramel jumper she had tucked into her favorite old Ilvermony skirt.

"What's this one?"

"White chocolate chip cranberry."

The grin that lit up Theia's face could have cracked the sun in half and Sirius felt a laugh bubble into his throat for the first time in weeks.

 **~~Later that night~~**

"Did you send her an owl when I was bathing as well?"

"Nah mate, I didn't. Must have been an ether thing she picked up when she saw your sad puppy face."

Sirius rolled his eyes and found himself grateful for the darkness in the room that night when he felt unexpected heat crawl up his cheeks.


End file.
